ADVENT Stun Lancer
The ADVENT Stun Lancer is an ADVENT enemy encountered in XCOM 2. They are a melee-focused counterpart to the range-focused ADVENT Troopers. Stun Lancers are first deployed in late March as support troops for both ADVENT and aliens. They are upgraded to Heavy Lancers in June (mid-July on Legend) and to Elite Lancers in August (mid-October on Legend). Description ADVENT Stun Lancers are fanatical melee-focused soldiers dedicated to the ADVENT Administration. Appearance Stun Lancers take the appearance of futuristic riot police officers. They wear grey angular armor decorated with small red lights, similar to Shieldbearers. The top of their breastplate and their small pauldrons are stamped with a red ADVENT logo, and they wear a grey bodysuit with red knuckles on their gloves. Instead of the black ammo packs worn by their more ranged Trooper counterparts, Stun Lancers also wear plates of armor over their stomach secured by a belt, allowing them to survive a hit from a conventional assault rifle if they're lucky. Compared to other soldiers, Stun Lancer boots are thinner than those of a Trooper, and decorated with the same red lights as their breastplate. Unlike other ADVENT helmets, the Stun Lancer helmet has a crimson-red polarized visor that conceals their alien upper face. Like all ADVENT infantry, the only part of their body that is visible is their lips, which are slightly fuller and a more apparent shade of red than other troops. Behavior They are capable of closing distances quickly to use their sword-like shock baton/lance. Their shock lances are capable of stunning, disorienting or even rendering soldiers unconscious if the attack does not simply kill. Like all ADVENT soldiers, they are also armed with a Magnetic Rifle, though due to their deadly blade they seem to use the rifle only when unable to reach targets with their blade, which is rare thanks to their exceptional movement. They are susceptible to poison (including Viper poison) due to their lack of a sealed suit, although said suit provides them with higher health than a normal ADVENT Trooper. They can be deployed as reinforcements from ADVENT dropships and appear in a savage SITREP. The Stun Lancer was originally deployed as a non-lethal civilian peacekeeper to prevent unrest during ADVENT's establishment, and shows a slight increase in muscle fibre density over the standard ADVENT Trooper. In addition, Stun Lancers are given large quantities of stimulants prior to combat, potentially contributing towards their reckless behaviour when engaged. Abilities *'Slash :' Stun Lancers almost always use their Shock Lance rather than their Magnetic Rifle. Just like XCOM's Rangers, the ADVENT Lancer can move twice and finish its move with a jab from their Lance. This attack can leave your soldier disoriented, stunned, or even unconscious. The tool-tip states when used on a soldier who is already wounded, it has the potential to render them unconscious. However, under AI control it can even render an otherwise healthy soldier unconscious. However, this ability also risks the Stun Lancer getting picked off with Overwatch. Tactics *They will happily give up their lives and will often end their turn surrounded only to strike an XCOM soldier. If this attack misses, quite a humorous situation will be created, and your soldier will get a free flank next turn at the Lancer's expense. **However, during ADVENT Retaliation missions this behavior will become disastrous. Stun Lancers will single-mindedly hunt civilians even after XCOM has discovered them and even shot them, which given their enormous movement and ability to attack after double-moving makes even one of them capable of devastating entire settlements if left alone. As such, they should be heavily prioritized whenever spotted during Retaliations. *Due to the Lancers' reckless behavior, they are almost guaranteed to charge at your soldiers and use their baton as soon as they can: either kill them immediately, throw a flashbang or attempt to move out of their range to avoid taking annoying damage and status effects. *Suppression and Overwatch are not particularly reliable against Lancers as the former is usually ignored (with the Lancer's health allowing him to survive the reaction fire) and the latter has a tendency to miss, with late game variants such as the Heavy Lancer not triggering Overwatch at all. *Rangers with Bladestorm stand a chance of counter-attacking an incoming Stun Lancer before they can strike first. However, a Stun Lancer at full health may be able to survive and continue their attack. *Stun Lancers cannot target a friendly mind controlled/hacked target with their melee attack. Multiplayer * Stun Lancers can be used as direct upgrades to the ADVENT Troopers, dealing the same amount of damage with their Mag Rifle and having the same accuracy, but costing twice as much. This makes them good regular troops for ADVENT-centric squads. * Stun Lancers have good Mobility and Dodge, meaning that there is less risk when closing on a target. See Also *ADVENT Stun Lancer Corpse *ADVENT Stun Lancer Autopsy Gallery XCOM2_ADVENT_StunLancerConcept.jpg|Concept Art chris-sulzbach-advstunlancer-render.jpg|ADVENT Stun Lancer render|link=https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yokB9 XCOM_ADVENT_StunLancerDrawsWeapon.gif Category:ADVENT Soldiers Category:Enemies (XCOM 2) Category:Humanoid (XCOM 2)